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Ryanair pilots `offered a one-off bonus of up to £12,000 to give up holidays'

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has admitted the cancellation of flights due to pilot holidays is 'a mess'. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has admitted the cancellation of flights due to pilot holidays is 'a mess'. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has admitted the cancellation of flights due to pilot holidays is 'a mess'. Picture by Niall Carson/PA Wire

RYANAIR pilots have been offered a one-off bonus of up to £12,000 to give up holidays in a last-ditch effort by the airline to prevent further flight cancellations.

Around 400,000 passengers have now been contacted by Ryanair to say the flights they booked no longer exist.

Belfast routes are not affected, but Dublin has experienced a slew of cancellations.

Up to 50 flights a day will be cancelled until October 31.

Irish Air Line Pilots' Association (IALPA) has accused the carrier of making European regulations a scapegoat, claiming Ryanair bosses failed to allocate enough pilots for its schedule.

Ryanair could face further disruption from industrial action as it is reported pilots are meeting across Europe to discuss going on strike.

The airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary has admitted to a "cock up" over pilot shortages that led him to cancel flights and disrupt the plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.

He has estimated that Ryanair will face a €20 million compensation bill and it looks set to be further out of pocket by the time the crisis is resolved.

Internal emails show that the budget airline is attempting to appease pilots and first officers by offering tax-free bonuses not to take time off, according to the Guardian.

It quotes Ryanair's chief operations officer, Michael Hickey writing to pilots: "To avoid further cancellations, we are requesting between one and two blocks of five days from every pilot who has already been assigned their month off.

"In recognition of the impact on you of the need to fly additional days I am implementing the following bonus scheme. All current pilots [...] who remain operating Ryanair aircraft between Sept and October 31 2018 will receive a once-off €12,000/£12,000 gross bonus for captains and €6,000/£6,000 for first officers in November 2018."

With pilots not receiving the one-off bonus until next November, it is being interpreted as an inducement to stay with the company after reports that many are defecting to Norwegian Air.

The rival says it has hired 140 pilots from the Irish airline since January.

Cancelled Irish flights

Wednesday September 20

3105 Amsterdam - Dublin

509 Bristol - Dublin

22 Dublin - Paris Beauvais

554 Dublin - Manchester T3

3104 Dublin - Amsterdam

508 Dublin - Bristol

555 Manchester T3 - Dublin

23 Paris Beauvais - Dublin

Thursday September 21

FR504 Dublin - Bristol

FR505 Bristol - Dublin

FR1986 Dublin - Nantes

FR1987 Nantes - Dublin

FR1958 Dublin - Nice

FR1959 Nice - Dublin

FR1982 Dublin - Biarritz

FR1983 Biarritz - Dublin

Friday September 22

FR1984 Dublin - Carcassone

FR1985 Carcassone - Dublin

FR1958 Dublin - Nice

FR1959 Nice - Dublin

FR1986 Dublin - Nantes

FR1987 Nantes - Dublin

Monday September 25 & October 2, 9, 16 and 23

FR672 Dublin - Birmingham

FR673 Birmingham - Dublin

FR26 Dublin - Paris B

FR29 Paris B - Dublin

FR9428 Dublin - Milan B

FR9429 Milan B - Dublin

Tuesday September 26 & October 3, 10, 17 and 24

FR26 Dublin - Paris B

FR29 Paris B - Dublin

FR9428 Dublin - Milan B

FR9429 Milan B - Dublin

FR211 Dublin - London S

FR212 London S - Dublin

Wednesday September 27 & October 4, 11, 18 and 25

FR9428 Dublin - Milan B

FR9429 Milan B - Dublin

FR506 Dublin - Bristol

FR507 Bristol - Dublin

Thursday September 28 &, October 5, 12, 19 and 26

FR26 Dublin - Paris B

FR29 Paris B - Dublin

FR46 Dublin - Brussels C

FR47 Brussels C - Dublin

FR3978 Dublin - Madrid

FR3979 Madrid - Dublin

Friday September 29 & October 6, 13, 20 and 27

FR3976 Barcelona - Dublin

FR3977 Dublin - Barcelona

FR22 Dublin - Paris B

FR23 Paris B - Dublin

FR664 Dublin - Birmingham

FR665 Birmingham - Dublin

FR7156 Dublin - Madrid

FR7157 Madrid - Dublin

Saturday September 30 & October 7, 14, 21 and 28

FR7156 Dublin - Madrid

FR7157 Madrid - Dublin

FR552 Dublin - Manchester

FR553 Manchester - Dublin

Sunday October 1 & October 8, 15 and 22

FR7156 Dublin - Madrid

FR7157 Madrid - Dublin

FR202 Dublin - London S

FR205 London S - Dublin

FR1452 Dublin - Brussels

FR1453 Brussels - Dublin